The author favorably reviews the "SUCCESS in Beginning Reading and Writing Program" developed by Dr. Anne Adams of Duke University. The two-hour instructional program is divided into four modules: phonics/spelling; content reading; writing language experience stories; and recreational reading. Program costs and ease of use are noted.…

Argues that teaching a unit on death provides an opportunity to focus students' reading, writing, and thinking on a subject area in which they are vitally interested. Suggests activities and describes the extensive literature available on death suitable for elementary through college students. (AEA)

Five educational leaders--John Downing, Richard E. Hodges, Charlton Laird, Pose Lamb, and Roy C. O'Donnell--offer reflections on significant developments in research on language development during the 1970s and on their hopes for language research and instruction in the 1980s. (GT)

Describes a bilingual open classroom program for kindergarten children in which the classroom environment is rich with printed language and children are introduced to reading by an individualized system they both enjoy and profit from. Tells how children "write" books, how phonics is introduced, and how reading is incorporated in a variety of…

Described is an activity designed to maintain a good working environment during the difficult last week and first week of school. It is a letter-writing unit that has graduating eighth graders recall their feelings about junior high school for the fall's incoming seventh graders. (KC)

Tracking down the similarities between two beloved stories (the Wizard of Oz and Star Wars) led to a critical analysis of other tales. Through this process, students discovered why some books are classics, became more discriminating readers, and applied what they learned to their own creative writing. (Author/KC)

The mastery learning methods developed by Ethna Reid at the Exemplary Center for Reading Instruction (ECRI) in Utah have been adopted by a fifth grade class in Allentown, New Jersey. This article briefly explains some of the techniques used in ECRI instruction. (SJL)

Presents reasons for including critical television viewing skills in the language arts curriculum. (RL)

Described is a "joke center" where elementary school students not only learned about various kinds of humor and practiced language skills but had a terrific week of laughter as they shared favorite jokes and made up new ones. (Author/KC)

Methodology and results of a survey on the amount of time devoted to locally sponsored inservice teacher education pertinent to English and language arts, the features of these programs, and their effectiveness are reported. (HTH)

Presents a variety of elementary games and learning activities for language arts, reading, math, and science which all relate to the theme of dinosaurs. (SJL)

Fifteen teaching suggestions are offered for elementary language skills activities. The focus is on developing proficiency in sentence completion, alphabetizing, story telling, writing, describing, listening creatively, spelling, and expanding language comprehension. (JD)

Discusses the advantages of using reader's theatre over other dramatic activities, as well as ways to implement reader's theatre in the classroom. (HTH)

Discusses the role of drama in education, which is to draw upon and enrich the imagination and experience of all human beings in any space designated as educational--classroom, home, community, etc. Supports the discussion with examples of creative drama exercises and experiences. (PD)